Strays
by Zoken
Summary: Meet the newest squad in the Academy X, and their unlikely advisor. When your team includes a human, a super-telepath, and a guy who likes wearing a mutant control collar, anything can happen. but someone stalks one of them. who is it, and can they bea
1. Registration

The Strays

File One: Recruitment

"I hate to say it guys, but I think mutant registration has made it," Kitty Pryde said as she sat in front of the computer terminal.

"What do you mean," Scott Summers, Headmaster for Xavier's School for the Gifted. "The United States still hasn't passed that law."

"True darling," Emma Frost, Headmistress and CEO of Frost Enterprises, said. "But unfortunately the information revolution means that the government doesn't have to."

Emma gestured to Kitty. Kitty, with a look of disgust at the idea of Emma telling her what to do, pulled up an internet page. It was titled "The International On-Line Mutant Registry". Beneath it were the options "Search for a name", "Add Name", and "Report Name for Investigation". "It can be accessed in five different languages," Kitty said with distaste dripping from her mouth. "You can search by a number of different terms including location, power, alphabet, social status, and reporter."

"Reporter?" asked Scott.

"Whether or not the named mutant reported themselves or someone else reported them," Kitty explained. "Though most of them are reported by others, many mutants have reported themselves."

"Not all of them are mutants though," Emma added. All attention shifted to her. She expounded, "I checked on some of them names, random sampling really, and found one of them is not a mutant." She typed a name in for a search. "Mr. Steven Nyguen is not a mutant. I did a review of his mental history. He has become a street vagrant in Portland, Oregon. His old family will have nothing to do with him as they are all Mutant-phobics, as are most of the others in the area he lives in."

"What's your point," Scott asked apathetically.

"We are in a unique situation," Emma supplied. "He is a young man, out on his own because no one will believe that he is not what he is not."

"Serves a human right," Bobby Drake, one of the X-Men and a teacher at Xavier's School, commented.

"Nein," challenged another X-Man, Kurt Wagner. "He is facing the same challenges as one of us. "He needs some help."

"Why don't we bring him here," Kitty suggested.

All eyes in the room turned on her. "What? Like Kurt said, he faces the same challenges as we do, even though he isn't. Why shouldn't he receive the same opportunities as we do?"

"I'm against this," Scott said firmly.

"I think it would be interesting," Emma said in a bored tone.

"I see no ozzer vay of it," Kurt said.

"I think it's a lousy idea to bring a human here," Bobby said in an arrogant tone.

"AHEM!" came a loud grunt from the back of the group. Bobby and the rest turned back and saw the grunter, Alex Summers, Scott's younger brother, and Cain Marko, Xavier's step-brother. Alex was seeing a human woman that was also the school nurse, and technically Cain was human. Bobby dropped his head and looked the other way.

"Well I think that settles that," Emma said, as if they had just finished their argument. "Now the question becomes, 'whose squad will he be on?'"

A lone hand in the back raised. It was black and gloved. When they saw who was volunteering, all were at a loss for words. Remy LeBeau smiled his cocky smile. "Dere a student he'e already I been t'inkin' be good for a squad, an' Emma foun' me fo' mo'."

"Should we be worried about the type of squad you would put together?" Scott asked sarcastically.

Remy answered with only a grin.

* * *

The X-Jet landed in Jacksonville Florida, just outside an apparently abandoned warehouse. Remy strode down the ramp, waving for the others to stay on the jet. He flicked away a cigarette. Under his coat, something formed a large lump. He walked into the warehouse.

"E'enin' ya'll." He called out.

"Stop right where you are," commanded a woman's voice. "You aren't welcome here!"

He heard another voice whispering, and then the woman growled back, "I don't care!"

Then came a man's voice. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Name's Remy LeBeau, Ah'm from de Xavier School," Remy called back. The owners of the voices were shrouded in the shadows. The strange part was that the voices came from opposite directions; opposite ends of the ware house.

"Why are you here," demanded the woman's voice. It was harsh.

"Ah'm here t' ahffah ya'll a place in de school."

There was a pause. "Its too dangerous," yelled the woman's voice.

"Remy t'aught ya'll maht say that," he said pulling the item he held beneath his coat. It was a yellow collar. It was a mutant control collar. "Where de one wit' de control problem?"

"All around you," called the man's voice with a harsh laugh.

"Remy Unna'stan', which one got de dangerous pa'ah?"

The pause came again. Remy knew they had a telepath so he figured the telepath was relaying their communications. "Is that a control collar?" demanded the woman's voice. Remy nodded. "Throw it this way," yelled the man's voice.

Remy threw it to the edge of the shadows. A hand reached out and pulled it in quickly. He heard it click on a neck. "I guess we're lucky these things are really easy to operate," quipped the man's voice, though this time it sounded younger. The light, that proved the collar was working blinked in the darkness. He heard steps from both sides come walking towards him.

From the gloom came four figures. The smallest had red hair and looked roughly ten. He was holding the hand of the owner of the woman's voice. The woman was in actuality a girl no older than sixteen. Her hair was dirty blond and cut short and uneven. Her face was scowling and cold. She didn't trust this Cajun stranger, and her expression showed it. The tallest by far was a boy, probably the owner of the man's voice. He also had dirty blond hair, cut just as raggedly as the girls', but shorter. His expression questioned, but did not show any anger. The last of the four was hunched over. He was the one that wore the collar. He hid himself as best he could behind the tallest boy. He seemed to fear his own shadow. The two groups diverged a little way's out. The youngest boy and the collared one regarded each other with embarrassed smiles, but friendly ones. The collared one jumped behind the girl, and the taller boy took charge of the youngest. The girl walked in the lead. "What's the catch?" she demanded.

"Well, Remy Lahk it if ya'll come t' de Xavier School, but if not, s'good."

They looked at each other. "So we keep the collar if we don't come?" asked the girl suspiciously.

"Qui," said Gambit with a smile.

"What do we have to do if we come with you?" she questioned further.

"Go t' classes, eat t'ree hot squah's a day, learn t' defend' y'selves, learn t' control y' pa'ahs." Remy shrugged.

The three boys' faces lit up, and turned to the girl when Remy rattled off the last part. She looked at each of them. She nodded, and looked at Remy. "We'll come," she said.

* * *

Two mornings later, six teenagers, including the four from the warehouse, and the human boy, along with another girl, were standing in front of the assembled school. "Good morning students," Cyclops greeted. "I have called you all together to announce the formation of a brand-new squad. I turn things over now to Mr. LeBeau, the squad's advisor."

"T'is mo'nin' I present t' ya'll a de newest squad;

"De squad leader, Edith Sloan, Codename; Take." Edith was the girl from the warehouse. Her hair was trimmed even now, and the hair came to just past her ears. Her power was to teleport inanimate objects. She couldn't teleport living beings, they were left behind if they were inside what she teleported. She was 5' 9", and had a lean build. She didn't smile. She had the kind of face that, while pretty, you weren't quite sure if it knew how to smile. She was 15. She had almost an aura about her, one that caused people to look to her when there was trouble. She was one of those that was just a born leader.

"Charlie Dusk, codename; Tender." Charlie was a kind faced boy from the warehouse. He was 17. Looking at him you knew you could trust him. He was 6' even, now with his hair closely buzzed. He smiled at the mention of his codename, one he had picked out. He had a lean build like the girl, but still had some muscle on him. Tender's power was to cause either great pain or great pleasure. It was a manipulation of the pain/pleasure receptor in the brain, it worked on a separate function than the rest of the tactile sensation. In short, he could make you scream out in pleasure, bawl in pain. The problem was that this was tied directly to his emotions. Should he feel extremely happy or angry or sad or elated, his power rippled out and caused the corresponding physical sensation in those surrounding him. It even happens when he dreams.

"Evan Conrad, codename; Eavesdrop." Evan was the young boy from the warehouse. He was 11 and still had red hair that he wore long, draped in front of his eyes. He wore on his head a metal helmet. You see Evan had a perverse power. He had telepathy. But the sick and twisted part was what his telepathy was designed to do. His telepathy was on the level of Charles Xavier, because of how it was genetically designed. You see, Evan's telepathy was designed to automatically cut through any mental blocks, telepathic barriers and whatnot. It was designed to seek out what the victims least wanted someone else to know. Evan had, since he was nine, been privy to every secret of those who came near him. Ever secret desire, every perverse fantasy they suppressed, every lie, every buried guilt they carried, was, in effect, screamed right into Evan's head. Now a day, he spoke only to the boy and girl who had cared for him in the warehouse. They had had secrets, but they didn't care that he knew them.

"Elizabeth Smyth, codename; X-Wire." Elizabeth was the girl that had already been here at the institute when Gambit made plans for his squad. She was 5'7" and had long brunette hair. She was from Whales originally, and still carried her accent with her. She herself had two powers; X-ray vision, and long thin metal wires the came from the base of her wrists, three in each arm. These wires she could use as whips, as tentacles, ropes, and even computer interface, although that hurt. She was an opinionated girl, who didn't really get along with others all that well. Mostly because she was one of the last remaining few that looked completely human. She had a light build, and a curious expression.

"Argos Thomas, codename; Common." Argos was perhaps the most pitiable there. He was the timid boy from the warehouse. He had black hair that was messy and disheveled, as if he hadn't bothered to do anything with it after showering, which was indeed the case. Argos was down right scrawny and standing at 5'3" was the second shortest of the group, right after Evan. Argos even now seemed to be trying to hide behind himself. He fidgeted and twitched. He looked over with a begging expression at Edith, who only made a gesture for him to calm down. Argos' power was strange. There had been some like it, and yet none like it. Argos had the power to sense the X-factor signature given off by the X-gene in a mutant, and broadcast it to all hominids around him. In example; if he was surrounded by seven humans and telepathic mutant, all nine of them would have telepathy. The problem was that he could not control it. His power was always on. And since he broadcast any and all mutation, especially those that didn't have to do with physical deformities, confusion and panic were very common when he entered an area. This was why he wore the collar. He touched it reassuringly. As if to make sure it was still there. It was nice to be able to be around people again. But why did they have to be around him so much?

"And finally, Kevin Nyguen, codename; Norm." Kevin was 5'4" and looked around with a wry smile. He hadn't believed that they would actually bring him here, to the mutant school. At the mention of his name, he stepped forward and took a sweeping bow. There was applause, especially from the girls, until a whisper worked its way through the crowd. They silenced so fast, one would think Kevin had hit them with a dead fish. Kevin was human. Kevin was a third generation Vietnamese-American. Kevin was an actor. One thing Kevin was not though, was a mutant. When Gambit asked him what codename he wanted, it had taken him a while to answer. After several times asking "do I really need one?" he finally answered "Norm," because he was different from the rest.

"Dis'" continued Remy "Be mah team, De Strays."


	2. Family

Strays

File Two: Family

Charlie Dusk had not slept in so fine a bed in a very long time. He let his normal dreamless sleep take him. It was two weeks since he hand his comrades had joined the latest squad at Xavier's. to be honest, he thought it was pretty nice. He was with the friends he had been with already and he had made two new ones right off the bat. He liked Norm, a funny guy with a flair for the dramatic, and while he liked X-Wire, he knew she was hiding something. He was the intuitive type. He was always thinking about people and how they were acting. Mr. LeBeau had told him that was a good thing.

For instance, Charlie had recognized that most of the gender rolls on the team were reversed. For instance; the dominant leader used to giving out orders was female, and the level headed calm and contemplative second-in-command was a male, himself to be specific. The ones who the team protected and coddled were both male, Common and Eavesdrop.

The team had taken so easily to calling each other by codenames, even Norm. he thought his was ironic.

So Charlie slept soundly in his bed happy not to dream. That was when the scream woke him. His roommate, Common, was having a nightmare. Charlie hopped out of bed and roused his friend. "Common, wake up buddy, it's just a nightmare." He said.

Common awoke and looked around. "She's here," he said, tears choking his voice. "She's here and you're all dead!"

"She's not here," Tender said softly. "and She won't find you here."

"Where… Where's Take," he said, looking around desperate to find her.

"Just a sec," he said. Long ago they had stolen two way pagers, and Tender fired a page off to Take and the rest of the team. Norm and Take both showed up. Tender and Norm both quietly pushed the two twin beds together. Norm shook Tender's hand and headed back to his room with Eavesdrop. There was a small couch in the room Tender and Common shared. Tender took a blanket from the closet and stretched himself out on the couch.

While all this happened, Take had taken common in her arms, and he had practically smothered her as he put his arms around her. It was as if he were trying to climb inside her to protect himself. From Take's expression, one would surmised she would let him. They laid down on the newly made double. Common faced one wall and take moved up behind him, holding him tightly from behind. "She's not coming?" he asked.

"No," Take affirmed. "And if she tries, I'll kill her myself." With that, the two fell asleep. Tender was asleep not long after.

* * *

"AHEM!" called a loud voice. A loud very unhappy voice. Take opened her eyes to see Mr. Summers standing over them. "Up. Now." He said simply.

She growled, not a morning person, but complied. Mr. LeBeau was standing on the other side of the room, looking more annoyed than angry. He jerked Tender to his feet and to consciousness. Neither transition was made with any grace.

"Exactly what the hell happened here last night," Demanded Cyclops.

"Petites, Remy trusted ya'll," Gambit scolded.

"He had a nightmare," Take growled, showing no fear of either of these men, both of whom she knew to be trained in multiple forms of combat.

"We… we… we…" Common stammered. "We just slept… nothing dirty… I swear I'm not dirty." He began hiding himself behind Take.

"He has nightmares from time to time," Tender explained while Cyclops and Take stared daggers at each other. "Take is best at comforting him after those."

Cyclops looked at them both. The beds, he could tell, had been used for nothing but sleeping. There had been no hanky-panky. "Detention, all three of you." He said firmly. "You'll be writing lines."

"You'll have to count me in," said a voice from the doorway. Norm stood there looking serious. His room, right next door to theirs, had been awakened almost at the same time as the others. "I helped move the beds."

"Fine," Cyclops said. "The four of you." He turned and left that not one of them was angry with their punishment.

Gambit looked at them shrewdly. He could tell that Tender had omitted information about Common's nightmares, but he could also tell he had done it for Common's sake. So he said nothing. He grabbed Take and said, "C'mon. Back t' y'own room."

* * *

Two days after the incident and the entire school knew. Of course they were handling it the way a superior species should; they were gossiping their heads off. The Strays did their best to ignore it, but it all came to a head at lunch. The Hellions happened to sit a table away. And of course Julian couldn't help but comment.

"God, I figured the two of them for queers, but what was the leader doing there? Telling them how its done? I mean I guess she is the only one on the team with a real pair, right?"

Take growled into her lunch as Tender put his hand on her arm. This was mostly to keep her from using it to do anything rash. Common felt he had embarrassed Take and was looking apologetically at her. Sadly, Julian wasn't finished.

"I guess we shouldn't expect too much from that team of trash. I mean for god's sake, they've got a LOW-GENE on their team. An honest to god FLATSCAN, and they not only allow it at the school but they put it on a team and give it a codename. And what an arrogant codename at that; Norm. Like he's normal."

"It was supposed to be ironic," Norm muttered to no one. "Like the Brotherhood of EVIL Mutants. It's supposed to be Ironic." He shook his head, annoyed.

Julian's tirade continued. "And that runty little one… Common. What an embarrassment. I don't even know what his power is, but he is wearing a freaking mutant control collar. That's basically a symbol of mutant oppression. Why not have a Jew wear a swastika, or black wear the confederate flag. It's absolutely disgusting. He should just pull it together and learn to control his powers."

Both X-Wire and Tender were almost physically restraining Take. Norm dropped his fork with a deliberate clank. He turned around to face Julian, or rather Julian's back. "Listen man, I'm sure even you had problems with your powers at one point or another. Not to mention the little guy isn't in the best shape upstairs. Why don't you just lay off okay?"

Julian turned around with a look of disbelieving anger in his eyes. "One:" he started. "Don't talk to me Low-Gene. Two; Don't tell me what to do. Three: if he can't cope, I say kick him to the curb. He's worthless."

Julian began to turn around, but Norm grabbed him by the shoulder. "You don't know what he's been through," he said.

"Don't ever touch me Flatscan!" Julian yelled, using his telekiniesis to launch Norm across the cafeteria into a wall, to crumple to the floor. X-Wire struck next, wrapping her cords around Julian's throat and hurling him in the opposite direction. The Hellions were on their feet in and instant. Tender grabbed take, to keep her from doing anything rash.

"Eavesdrop!" he called, while the other side menaced at them. "Do you know how to telepathically sedate people?"

"Sorta… I think," came the young boy's answer as he scooted backward away from the forming mob. Eavesdrop knew what was coming. he removed the metal helment he was wearing, preparing to use his telepathy.

"Use it on Take and X-Wire," he said. He released Take, and both she and X-Wire peacefully crumpled to the ground. Tender held out his hand a the Hellions. A look of shock covered their faces as a pleasure like none they had felt before covered them. Rockslide and Wither both hit the ground. Mercury grabbed on to the table for support before melting into a puddle with smile on her face, gurgling Kevin's name. Tag put a hand on the table and made some very odd faces. Dust had sat still, so Tender hadn't targeted her. She looked up at Tender, than apathetically at her teammates. "He is an idiot," she said, referring to Julian.

Tender smiled at her, and turned to his remaining Teammates. he hefted Take over his shoulder, and tried to figure out what to do about X-Wire when a boy with golden skin started to pick her up, along with a black boy.

"Saw what happened," explained David Alleyen. "You shoulda let 'em take the Hellions apart."

"They would have deserved it," said Joshua Foley, the boy with the golden skin. "After what they said."

"We gotta get to Mrs. Frost's office," said Tender.

The two looked at each other curiously. These new kids' advisor was Mr. LeBeau.

Eventually, Tender herded Common and Eavesdrop while carrying Take. Josh set X-Wire down in a chair in Ms. Frost's office. "Take Mr. Ngyuen straight to the infirmary," Ms. Frost ordered. it wasn't a secret why. his leg was obviously broken, and he had hit his head pretty hard when Julian threw him.

Emma scanned the two sleeping students, and then looked at the young telepath. she woke the two up, and they jumped up ready to fight. When they realized what happened Take moved to Tender and said, "Thanks." She then turned to Ms. Frost and, with a dark expression. "We'd like to report a fight."

"I see," Ms Frost said, skeptically.

"We were in the cafeteria," Take continued angrily. "And Hellion was speaking ill of our team. Norm confronted him, Hellion threw him telekinetically, X-Wire threw him with her wires by the neck... you may wanna check and see if that did any permanent damage, and then Tender had Eavesdrop sedate me and X-Wire, while he put the Hellions out of commission non violently."

"how?" she asked, with a scrutinizing look on her face.

"Um... well?" she looked at Tender.

"Like.. this." he put his hand up and Emma's eyes went wide. he stopped and she looked at him in dissapointment.

"I see," She said, straightening herself out, taking a few deep breaths. "A weeks detention for Mr. Ngyuen, Ms. Smythe, and Mr. Dusk." she pronounced. both present nodded.

"Wait," Edith said. "Norm's in the hospital for a while. If its possible... I'll serve his detention." she looked to the teacher.

"That sounds fair," Ms. Frost said, something akin to approval in her eyes.

the door opened suddenly and in burst Julian Keller, Hellion. "Ms. Frost! the Strays attacked US!" he yelled, then saw who was in the office.

"Oh," she said, asking Julian. "I heard a very different story."

"They're liars then!" Julian said, sounding more than a little desperate.

"Lets hear your side then Julian," she said holding a hand out to him.

"Well, I don't know what they told you, but I have the freedom of speech," he said defensively. "Saying things like flatscan and low-gene, and queer... thats perfectly within my rights. they're the ones who flipped out."

"Yes, of course," she said, sitting down at her desk, starting to write something.

"And... and then their human guy, he grabs me and tries to punch me, so I defend myself. then she" he said pointing at X-Wire "Throws me, and the little mongrel," he pointed this time at Eavesdrop. "Sedated me, by his order." he pointed at Tender. "The whole lot of them should be expelled!"

"Julian," she said holding her hand up to cut him off. "What ever possessed you to lie to a telepath?"

he looked horror struck. he hadn't expected her to check to see if he was lying.

"Mr. Ngyuen did nothing more aggressive than grab your elbow, you attacked first. and Mr. Conrad only sedated Ms. Smythe and Ms. Sloan who had intentions of beating you to a bloody pulp. Mr. Dusk saved you an incredible amount of pain. in fact all he gave you was pleasure, more than your mind could handle. you provoked them, intententionally, with the intent of setting them up for a fall that cold get them expelled. for shame Jullian."

"I am giving you two weeks detention, the same as the rest of them," she said, sitting back down. "Oh, and since you broke Mr. Ngyuen's leg, you will serve his detention as well."

"But thats four weeks!" Julian protested.

"Would you like to make it eight?" she asked, almost sounding curious.

Julian stormed out, and the rest looked curiously at Ms. Frost. "Excellent planning," she said, once Julian had left. "You knew Julian would tell me what would sound best against you, owning up to just enough to make it sound believable, and then demonifying the rest of you." she looked up at them. "Now, my original punishment still stands with you. one week each person to participate in the fight, and Ms. Sloan serves Mr. Ngyuen's time. Any questions?"

"No ma'am," they all said quickly, leaving. Common was the last to leave shuffling out, looking fearfully at Ms. Frost. he was close to tears. Take rushed back in. "C'mon, lets get out of here." Common kept his fearful gaze on Ms. Frost. "She's not mad," Take said, pointing Common's face at her. "She's not mad, now come on. no one's gonna hurt you." he shuffled out with Take.

Emma made a mental note to figure out why someone who appeared to be mentally unstable was enrolled in her Japanese I class. a recent mission had kept her from grading thier early assignments.


	3. Discovery

It was a sunny day at the Xavier School, but the Strays didn't know it. They were in the Danger room, per the instructions of Mr. LeBeau, training. "C'mon petites!" he called, watching them. Tender, Take, and Common were all running virtual tracks. X-Wire was practicing with her Wires. Eavesdrop was meditating, an assignment from Ms. Frost, and Norm was swinging on the uneven bars. Gambit marveled at Norm most of all, he trained, by choice, harder than the rest. Remy was pretty sure the boy was trying to compensate for his lack of actual powers, but the truth was, the drama club had voted him their best actor. And that was with a lot of them voting against the human.

Two floors, up Bobby Drake was walking down a hallway with a stack of papers in hand. He knocked on a door and a voice with a Canadian accent invited him in. "Jean-Paul," Bobby said. "I need you to look at something for me."

Jean-Paul Beaubier taught many classes at the school, but the one that Bobby had sought him out because of was Advanced Economic Theory in Modern Markets. It was a small class, but Jean-Paul was proud of them. He reached his hand out and took the group of eight pages Bobby handed him.

Jean-Paul skimmed through it at first, but slowed down, blinked, and reread many parts. "Are you turning this in for a degree or something Bobby?" Jean-Paul asked confusedly. "This is good, college level, but good."

"That was turned in by one of my students," Bobby said.

Jean-Paul looked through again, an expression of disbelief on his face. Bobby taught Introduction to Business and Economics. "No," Jean Paul said in disbelief.

"Yep," Bobby said shaking his head. "Does it sound like anything you've ever read?"

Jean-Paul shook his head. "No, this is… to put it simply naïve. Whoever wrote this plans for ideal morality in his company. I mean he doesn't just assume it, he states it in several places… this was one of your Intro kids?" he asked.

Bobby nodded his head. "Yeah… and whats more; you know that kid on Gambits team… the one with the collar."

"Yeah?" Jean-Paul said, wondering what connection this extremely intelligent writer had with the introverted and slightly creepy boy he had mentioned.

Bobby tapped the paper, where the name was. "Argos Thomas."

"I showed it to Warren too," Bobby continued. "He'd never read any of this stuff before either. He said the kid was correct in his points, but that he hadn't plagiarized it. You should see the works cited list he gave me." Bobby shook his head.

"So… he got assigned to the wrong class?" Jean-Paul asked.

"Can't be. He picked his schedule himself. He chose my class. I already put in for a meeting of his teachers. I wanna know if this is going on in his other classes."

One day later, Bobby got his wish. Six of the adults stood around. "I personally have just noticed this," Emma said superiorly. "I implemented a different grading scale to make up for it. The truth is I think the boy knows more Japanese than I do."

"Same with his English grades," Beast said, placing a small folder on the table they were gathered around. "His work is excellent, but he refuses to do any creative assignments. I usually give options whether the students do a creative or personal one. He usually opts to do a generic personal one. All of his punctuation, all his grammar, spelling, perfect."

"the same is said of his math scores," Beast continued. "He asked for remedial math and is acing it. I believe he is usually done before the class is over. He should probably be bumped up to at least Algebra I."

"Same in my class," Kitty said.

"So whah d' petite takin' d' classes?" asked Remy.

"Fluff courses," Scott said. "He knows he can pass them easily. He doesn't have to work so hard."

"Dat can' be d' reason," Gambit said, an expression of deep though covering his face. "He work bouquo hard durin' trainin'."

"I don't think its so much that he want to pass," Cain said suddenly. "I think its that the boy's afraid to fail."

The others in the room turned to the seldom so insightful Juggernaut for clarification.

He rolled his eyes. "Who here has seen the kid with his shirt off?" the eye brows of half the crowd shot up. Cain rolled his eyes again and continued. "I saw it a couple days ago while I was in my office yellin' at Julian Keller. Th' kid was out changin' inta civvies, and I saw his back. It was covered in old scars. Th' kinna scars I know alotta 'bout."

"Are you saying this kids father was abusing him?" asked Scott, not believing a word from Cain's mouth.

"Naw," he said. "I'm sayin' someone did. They did it cause 'a grades too. Prolly if he got less'n'a 'A' he got beat ta' hell."

Emma leaned back with a contemplative expression as Scott rolled his eyes. "He's on his way," she said suddenly.

The door opened and Common walked in, with Take in the lead. The teacher's looked at each other.

"Ms. Sloan, we need to talk to Mr. Thomas about his grades. Its kind of private," said Scott.

"Whatever," she said, she started to leave but felt him still holding her arm. She looked back into his eyes. She couldn't refuse his eyes. "Please?" she asked.

"I want her to," said Argos quietly.

The teacher's shrugged, and Scott turned to Argos. "Mr. Thomas, do you realize that the classes you're taking are… not right for you?"

"I'll make better grades," he said, fearful that he was failing. He began to hide behind Take, who put her arm around him protectively.

"Young man, you can't make better grades," said Emma coldly.

Common's eyes went wide. In his mind she was scolding him. He had displeased her. His mouth opened, quivered al little, then he hit his knees, pleading. "I'M SORRY! I CAN DO BETTER! PLEASE DON'T!"

The teachers in the room, most of all Emma were shocked. Take dropped to her knees beside Common and tried to comfort him while shooting nasty looks at the teachers. She spoke sweetly to Common, but her face was acid to the others. Emma walked around the desk and crouched next to Common, he began to scurry away from her. "I mean to say," Emma said, actually managing to sound apologetic. "That your grades are so high, they've no where to go."

Common looked at her fearfully. He looked at take, who nodded to him. He clutched Take and he and she stood together. Emma stood and returned to her desk. All in the room except Scott were astounded to see her act so kind. "Mr. Thomas, we were simply wondering why you didn't choose more advanced classes. Challenge yourself more."

"I might fail," he said meekly. "I… I can't get bad grades… I _can't_." he stressed the last word. Everyone heard the story that one word told.

"No one is gonna beat ya' here kiddo'" Cain assured him.

"No one," agreed Emma.

"Mr. Thomas," asked Beast. "Who beat you before?"

"_Her_," Common whimpered fearfully.

"Near as we can tell," added Take. "This 'Her' is his sister. He also some times calls her Aggie."

At that moment the door to the room flew open and Jean-Paul Beubier and Warren Worthington III walked in. "We knew we'd heard that name before," said Jean-Paul.

"I new something was up when Bobby showed me that paper," added Warren. Warren had been carrying a file. He set it down on Emma's desk, and Scott read over her shoulder.

"Well… I should have remembered this too," she said as she read the folder. She looked up, at Take this time. "Ms. Sloan, do you know who Mr. Thomas is?"

Edith shook her head no. they had met him on the street and taken pity on him.

Emma smiled. "His name is Argos Thomas, son of Caleb Thomas. Caleb Thomas was the head of Thomas House, a multi-national brokerage that negotiated deals in a number of different arenas. Caleb Thomas died three years ago. He left his business to his son on his son's eighteenth birthday, two years from now." Emma had been reading from the document, she looked up to see if Take was getting this. "Mr. Thomas, the one you hold there, is worth roughly two point five **billion** dollars.

"His sister," Emma had returned to reading bits from the document. "Agatha Thomas, was left nothing. In fact there is barely any mention of her by the Caleb Thomas. Although that really isn't surprising, he was a notorious sexist. There is one psychiatrists report here. It says that she has a good number of anger issues, displaced onto her brother, whom she practically raised. She has several violent tendencies, and much role confusion about her relationship to her brother. At some points she regards him more as a hated son, and at one point she…" Emma shut the folder. "we don't need the laundry list of atrocities Mr. Thomas endured. Suffice it to say, imagine his life were like the crueler parts of a V.C. Andrews novel."

Take shuddered and drew Common closer. She hadn't realized, but she'd begun to stroke Common's hair.

"I'm no longer surprised at Mr. Thomas' behavior. I don't think I would remain sane after an up-brining like that." Emma knew what it could be like growing up in a "rich" family.

"I recommend that Mr. Thomas be excused from classes pending an I.Q. test," Scott said, still a little dazed from the information about the boy. "And for the time being, Ms. Sloan or one of his other team mates will be allowed to remain with him at all times."

They filed out of the room slowly till it was only Scott and Emma left.

"Was it as bad as that for you growing up?" he asked Emma.

She shook her head. "No, I had it easy compared to this boy." Were she anyone but Emma Frost, she might have shed a tear for the boy.

As they walked to leave the office, Emma stopped. She turned around. She had felt someone, someone with great rage. They were gone now, but she made a note to keep an eye out for them.

* * *

A few miles away on a hilltop, a girl dressed in black opened her eyes, returned from her astral projection. So her brother thought he could hide in that school did he? She would show him. But she needn't sully her own hands. Not when hired killers are so cheap. She would have to look for someone durable thought. She thought on the person her father used to research business partners. She was in fact a bounty hunter. But she would serve Agatha's purpose. She looked at the body beside her. It had once been an living breathing mutant. But Agatha had stolen his telepathic powers, and his armoring scales. Then, when he had feeble human skin as the mutant had dreamed of since he'd grown the scales, she drove one of the horns on her head through his heart. The scales the horns and the telepathy would fade in a few days. She would need to find another mutant. 


	4. Assassin

Strays

Assassin

"C'mon Petites!" Remy called from the sidelines. They were in the danger room. It was the New Mutants versus the Strays. The New Mutants had made great time in this field day event, mostly because Noriko had used her super-speed.

The event was simple sounding at first; a relay race. Then it got complicated. The race was held in the Danger Room. There were poles everywhere that lifted, shifted, rolled and swung at random intervals. Agility was something Gambit had taught them to learn well.

"Ya'll ain't got d' stronges' powers fo' fightin'," Remy had told them. "So ya'll gonn' hafta learn to run."

The order the Strays were running in was X-Wire, Tender, Norm, Eavesdrop, Common, and Take. Tension mounted as half the school was watching their first field day activity. The sound to start went off and X-Wire leapt from the raised platform they were starting on. She had to make it across a ninety-yard gap filled with large metal pipes at all sorts of odd angles. She made it easy enough, using her wires to swing nimbly from pipe to pipe. She reached the other side, punched the button and took off back. She too a tumble when a pole withdrew while she was aiming for it, but quickly righted herself and continued on.

Next was Tender. He leapt cautiously from one pipe to another, some time riding one as it rose. He took a great deal longer than X-Wire had taken, and longer than the New Mutants' longest time. But he made it across and back. Then Norm left from the platform. Most gasped at his bold move, but were quickly shocked as he navigated the tangle of poles and pipes with a flare that few outside of Gambit, Beast, and Nightcrawler could manage. He was the second fastest time that day, after Surge. He got back and tagged Eavesdrop.

Eavesdrop hesitated as he looked to where he knew the control room to be. He removed his helmet and focused his mind. Then, he stepped off onto a pole that had just sprung up. He continued this, stepping and hopping onto poles that were going in his direction. He was using his telepathy to tap into Cyclops' mind as he created the environment. He got back with an average time.

Next up was Common, who did something that shocked them all. He removed his collar. He held out his hands and wires came out. The other Strays held their heads ad they became telepathic. They noticed there was more than the wires going for Common as he made his way quickly across. He was using Eavesdrops telepathy to tap into Norm's agility training. He was soon on the other side and faltering as he had gotten out of range of the others. He made his way back and landed in a tumble scrambling to put the collar back on.

Take ran straight for the edge. She held her hands out and the poles started disappearing, then reappearing right in front of her, forming a perfect path for her. On her way back, her face was strained. "She's using too much teleporting," called Common, who had gotten his collar back on. She made the path end a little above as she collapsed, spilling onto the platform, and coming in with just a few tenths of a second under the New Mutants time. As she lay unconscious Common gathered her up and held her close as he sat there on the floor.

He kissed her forehead and stroked her hair as she slept from her over exertion. They had to pry Common away before they could take Take to the med wing. She awoke an hour later feeling sore, but no worse for the wear. She hugged Common, who was there waiting outside the door, they had to physically restrain him from going in, just to show him she was okay.

* * *

Later that evening, after copious amounts of celebrating and partying, all were asleep. Common was sleeping surprisingly sound.

Outside however there was a threat. It was a female figure that crept across the academy's lovely landscaping. She was dressed in all white with a helmet that blocked telepathy. She was quiet. She entered the school by picking the front door, not the kind of thing they expect to happen, thus the lacked the preparation for it.

'all asleep,' she thought to herself.

"I'm no telepath," she heard to her right. She turned to see a man in white boxer shorts with brown hair. "But I'm betting you think we're all asleep.

"oh, sh…" she never got to finish her statement as he unleashed an optic blast by raising his glasses. She went through three walls. "Well that just wasn't fun," she groaned. She got up, the midriff of her outfit now torn to shreds. "hmm," she quipped aloud. "the Padme look… a bit outdated, but I'll run with it."

"Run vith dis!" called a loud voice with, what she noted to be, a Russian accent. She turned to see Piotr Rasputin charging at her. He hit her swiftly in the face. Again she flew through several walls, landing in a bedroom. The two male occupants were instantly awake. She looked at one, and pulled a picture from her belt.

'yup, that's him' she thought. She pulled a gun from her belt and took aim.

"DROP IT!" yelled the other teen in the room. This room happened to belong to Common and Tender. She was aiming at Common.

She turned and chuckled at the boy as he raised his hands. She quickly stopped chuckling. She dropped the gun a she began to breath heavily. She hit her knees and started moaning. Eventually she crumbled over, moaning and begging for more. The other X-Men quickly ran in, lead by Gambit.

"Wha's happenin' Tender?" he asked quickly, getting between the woman and the boys.

"She was after Common," Tender explained. He let his hands down and the woman slowly collected herself. After a few deep breaths she got to her knees. "I'm a bounty hunter," she confessed. Cyclops and Colossus entered the room, shocked to see the woman slowly standing.

"She should be on the ground," they said simultaneously.

"Oh, that." She said lightly. "My mutant power."

"You're a mutant?" asked Tender, his hands still ready to subdue her.

"Yup, my power's immortality and total invulnerability," she confessed. "Now I'm here to collect him. A dangerous criminal wanted in six states." She said pointing at Common.

The others looked at the boy they knew to be one of the gentlest they knew. "Your joking right?" they asked.

* * *

After a few hours they were convinced that neither party was up to no good, only that she had been duped. She removed her hood and mask. Her face was middle eastern, with a gorgeous smile.

"You can call me Lillian Coley, but my mutant handle is Freak," she introduced herself.

Jean-Paul sighed, "What, is every millionaire going to turn out to somehow be connected to mutants?"

"Millionaire?" asked Tender, who after finding out she was tricked, had apologized.

"Yeah, she owns a small fortune from an Egyptian cotton company, subsidiary of Worthington Enterprises."

"I also play the stock market _real _good," she said with a playful grin at Tender.

She turned to Scott and said, "Listen, I screwed up. I'm the reason you have several unattractive holes in your school, and I won't leave until my repair teams have taken care of everything, and met your satisfaction."

"That's really not necessary," Scott said politely, hoping she insisted.

"Yes it is. I'll take care of it," she assured.

* * *

The next day was Sunday, and most of the student body had no classes. Common and Take had one class in the afternoon, but only because they were taking Greek together. Tender had the day off, though he was still up early. He walked into the cafeteria and smiled at breakfast. He saw the woman from last night sitting among the students. For some reason he sat by her. "I'm sorry," he apologized again.

She looked at him and smiled. She had been hoping to run into him again. "No problem, just make sure to do it again when we're alone," she purred.

Tender coughed and choked on his eggs. "What?"

"Oh, you expected me not to like it?" she asked with a smile. "I almost…" she rolled her eyes looking around. "Well I'm sure you know what I almost did right there on your floor."

"Yeah… my power… it works through the skin, not the brain directly," he said with a blush."

"So you do that," she said looking at him seductively. "Wanna show me what else you do?"

"No," he said firmly.

Her face shifted. He she had struck a nerve. "What did I say?" she asked.

"I… I don't wanna talk about it," he said, picking up his tray.

She grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down. "Now wait a second. What's wrong? Do you have another power or something?"

"Its not… Its not another power, it's the other half of that power," he explained. "I can go the other way with it. I can cause pain."

"Well that's not so bad, a little pain, a bit of pleasure…"

"No," he cut her off. "Its not a little pain. Its more than you've ever experienced. That's what I try to learn here. I can't do anything but full blast. And the pain at full blast… I…" he shook his head again.

"What?" she asked.

"When I've turned the pain on people, I've seen a lot of things. Grown men weep, vomit, twitch, beg, plead, and curl into the fetal position… but once… I was living in New York. I was living with these people called the Morlocks. They took me in, even though I didn't look that different. I lived with them for six months. I had a girlfriend while I was there. Tristen. She had large black eyes, and purple skin… she hated the way she looked, but I loved her. She took me…" he nodded his head and she caught his meaning.

"Anyway we slept together usually. And one night, I had a nightmare. I don't usually dream, so I wasn't prepared for it. My power went off. Ten Morlocks, not counting Tristen, felt it and screamed and wept because of it. Tristen… she was so close to the source… me…" his eyes watered. "She spasmed so hard she broke her own back. She died because of me." He pushed his tray back. "I'm sorry, but my powers aren't something to joke about."

She put her hand on his. "Sweetie, you aren't the only one who thinks their powers are shit," she said. "How old do I look to you?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Sixteen, twenty tops."

"I'm much older," she said with a laugh. "I knew Egypt when the Nile was the only source of life, when the Valley of the kings was born. I was a mutant then. I was a poor girl, but I gained in power. I raided the tombs of lesser Pharaohs when I realized I couldn't be hurt in any way. I became a daredevil. I managed to stay under the radar of history. Not hard since not much ahs happened in Egypt since the Romans.

"But I digress. The point is I have felt everything… have you ever been in a dark room, but slowly your eyes grow accustomed to the dark… so that you can see? That's how sensation is for me," she explained. "I have felt pleasures and pains like you can't imagine. And lately I have realized that I am becoming calloused to them. Pain doesn't hurt as bad, pleasure doesn't feel as good. I would kill for those sensations to come back. More over, I would die to have them back," she looked at him seriously. "Humans aren't supposed to live as long as I have. I guess that's why I don't feel things like I once did," she shrugged.

"I know what you mean," he said. "When I'm hurt, I turn my pain power on myself for a quick burst. Then I don't hurt as bad. I know I can take it."

"How about this," she said. "This afternoon, I'm taking you to a movie." He looked at her but she continued, "And if you should happen to slip off the arm rest at the same time I do and our lips just happen to collide… well then it might just happen." She winked at him.

"Didn't you just say you were a couple hundred years old?" he asked.

"Couple thousand," she corrected. "But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have fun."

"But with someone my age?" he asked raising a brow accusingly.

"Listen, you're cute, you're sweet, and I REALLY like your powers. I'd like to get to know you and possible make out with you."

"I just got why you call yourself 'Freak,'" he said.

She smiled. "and I can tell why you call yourself 'Tender'." She gave him a peck on the cheek and got up. "Yeah, problem with being stuck at sixteen," she said. "Hormones are a killer."

He shook his head. He didn't bother to correct her. He hadn't named himself. Tristen had. She didn't have a mutant name. He called her his Tulip, but it didn't catch on. She had named him Tender. She had told him that it fit. "Tender hands, Tender eyes, Tender smile, Tender heart."

* * *

"Stupid bimbo," the same angry girl, dressed in black growled. She watched now from a great distance. Back at her apartment was a boy with a knife in his throat. She couldn't go back to that apartment now, but she didn't need to. The boy had been a mutant she had met online. He had the ability to see long distances and even through solid objects. She had seduced him and invited him to come see her in Westchester. She had killed him just after she'd stolen his powers.

"I will have to do this myself I guess," she growled. She used her cell phone to call for a Limo. "My brother will die. And this will be officially **mine.**


End file.
